1,423
Afghan artifacts return to Kabul
By ALISA TANG, Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan - More than 1,400 artifacts — protected from looters
and the Taliban since 1999 at a museum-in-exile in Switzerland — were
returned to the National Museum
of Afghanistan on Saturday.

The collection, which includes a piece from a foundation stone that was
"touched by Alexander the Great" and several items thousands of years
old, was assembled in Switzerland by Afghans who wanted to save their
cultural heritage after decades of war.

The oldest artifact dates back 3,500 years, and the collection spans
"countless" empires to which Afghanistan once belonged, said Paul
Bucherer, director of the Afghanistan Museum in the northwestern Swiss
town of Bubendorf. The Swiss museum, which received about 50,000
visitors since opening in 2000, is now closed.

A shipping container holding the collection arrived Friday in Kabul and
was opened at the National Museum on Saturday.

"I feel released from this duty to hand over all these 1,423 objects
back," Bucherer said.

Bucherer and Afghan officials ceremoniously unlocked the container
outside the museum entrance, and one of the crates inside was carried
up to a second-floor display case. There, Bucherer delicately pulled
out artifacts that looked like they belonged in a collection worthy of
New York or London — only these items were saved from looters and the
international art market.

The first of the returned items to be placed in the museum included a
small Buddha statue from Bamiyan, where two ancient, enormous Buddha
statues were destroyed by the Taliban six years ago.

Another piece was a phallus-shaped stone that was once part of a
foundation stone of a city in northern Afghanistan, Ai-Khanum, founded
by Alexander the Great 2,300 years ago. A carved owl on one end of the
stone represented the Greek city of Athens, Bucherer said.

"This piece is the link between Europe and Afghanistan. This piece was
found in Ai-Khanum and it is, as I was told, part of the foundation
stone of Ai-Khanum," he said. "We know for sure it was touched by
Alexander the Great."

The National Museum of Afghanistan, founded in 1930, was looted and
deliberately vandalized under the Taliban.

After restoration and reconstruction, the museum reopened to the public
in October 2004.

Afghan officials sent a request
to UNESCO last summer asking
that the objects be returned. International and Afghan authorities
deemed Kabul safe enough for them to come back.

"I hope these items may contribute to the identity of Afghanistan,"
Bucherer said. "To find peace in Afghanistan ... the only way is via
culture — via traditional Afghan culture, which played an enormous role
in Afghanistan in the old days."Back to TopBomber
slays child in Afghanistan
By NOOR KHAN, Associated Press Writer
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bomber targeting a Canadian military
convoy left one child dead and two people wounded Saturday in
southern Afghanistan, police
said. No Canadian soldiers were wounded.

The bomber rammed his explosives-packed vehicle into a passing military
convoy on the main highway linking the southern city of Kandahar with
Herat in the west, said Ghulam Azrat, a regional police officer.

A child, who was at the side of the road as his family was working in
nearby fields, was killed in the blast, Azrat said. Another child and
man, members of the same family, were wounded in the attack, he said.

The Canadian military vehicle sustained minor damage, and there were no
Canadian casualties, he said.

Meanwhile, a mortar attack in
NATO's largest base in southern Afghanistan on Friday left three
soldiers wounded, said Lt. Col. Angela Billings, a spokeswoman for
NATO. The attack occurred in Kandahar Air Field, a vast military base
and airport on the outskirts of city of Kandahar, she said.

Billings did not identify the wounded soldiers, but said they suffered
minor injuries.

There are some 36,000 troops serving in NATO's International Security
Assistance Force.

Also Saturday, the United
Nations mission in Afghanistan said that those holding a kidnapped
Italian reporter and his two Afghan colleagues should show their
humanity by freeing them.

Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, a reporter for Italian daily La Repubblica
was kidnapped along with two Afghans traveling with him on March 5 in
the Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province. Taliban insurgents
have claimed responsibility.

"Mastrogiacomo is a well known journalist whose sympathies for the
people of Afghanistan should be beyond doubt to anyone," the U.N.
mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.

"Throughout his reporting of this region over many years he have
displayed compassion for the poor and suffering, communicating their
voices to the outside world," it said. "We know of no reason whatsoever
for him to be under anyone's suspicion."

Mastrogiacomo appeared in a video shown on Italian television
Wednesday, appealing to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to work for
his release. Prodi said that no efforts will be spared in trying to
secure his release.

Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Thursday that Italy was not
negotiating with the Taliban, but added that humanitarian groups were
in contact with them, "and the government is doing all it can with the
necessary discretion."

Mastrogiacomo, a father of two, had been on assignment in Kandahar, the
Taliban's former stronghold in southern Afghanistan, when his newspaper
lost contact with him on March 4.Back to TopAfghan
president leaves for Germany, France
KABUL (AFP) - Afghanistan
president Hamid Karzai left on Saturday for an official three-day visit
to Germany and France, his office said in a statement.

Karzai is to receive recognition -- the "Riser Award" -- in the German
city of Bochum for his outstanding leadership, the statement said.

He would hold talks Monday with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Germany's
role in Afghanistan, including its mission within the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF), in which Germany has nearly 3,000
troops, it added.

Karzai would also travel to France, where he would meet his French
counterpart Jacques Chirac, the statement said, without giving details.

France has 1,100 troops in the ISAF.Back to TopAfghan
government probes killing of police in clash with Taliban
KABUL (AFP) - Afghan authorities Saturday launched an investigation
into the killing of five police officers during an ambush by Taliban
insurgents.

The policemen were killed in southern Helmand province Friday and an
Afghan official initially said they died when coalition forces opened
fire following a Taliban ambush but later he said the policemen were
killed by the insurgents.

"The actual story is that the Afghan police were ambushed by Taliban
and police returned fire. Meanwhile, (US-led) coalition troops
believing it (was) the enemy also sent fire," Bashary said.

The "policemen were caught in a crossfire," between Taliban insurgents
and the foreign coalition troops.

"At this point we don't know if they were killed by Taliban fire or the
coalition fire. This is what we're investigating at this point," the
spokesman said.

But coalition forces, which have troops in the area, said they were not
involved.

"Our position has not changed. There's no involvement of the coalition
in this incident," a spokesman said, referring to an earlier comment by
coalition officials denying any involvement.

The NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force has also ruled out the involvement of its
troops in the killing.

The ISAF, which has about 37,000 troops from 37 countries, is here to
stabilise the country, including by ridding areas of insurgents, to
allow for development work.

The coalition, which numbers about 14,000, is focused on counter
terrorism.Back to TopAfghan
police say five shot dead by NATO troops
Fri Mar 16, 6:22 AM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) -
NATO troops opened fire on a police patrol in
southern Afghanistan,
apparently mistaking them for hostile forces, and killed five
policemen, a senior police official said Friday.

Another six policemen were missing after the shooting late Thursday in
the volatile Gereshk area of the southern province of Helmand,
provincial deputy police chief General Isau Khan told AFP.

They had been travelling in a vehicle that was not a conventional
police type, he said.

Khan was unable to say what had prompted the soldiers to open fire,
adding that "the incident is being investigated."

The media office of NATO's International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) could not confirm the incident.

However, a military official in southern Afghanistan said on condition
of anonymity that there had been an incident between NATO forces and
the police overnight which was believed to have caused police
casualties.

The circumstances of the incident were unclear, the official added.

There have been a rash of incidents this year in which troops from ISAF
or the separate US-led coalition have shot and killed civilians fearing
they were attackers, especially suicide bombers.

On Wednesday, an Afghan truck driver was killed Wednesday in the
southern province of Kandahar, which adjoins Helmand, after NATO troops
opened fire on his vehicle when he ignored warnings to move away from
their convoy.

In one of the most serious incidents, eight civilians were killed in
the eastern province of Nangarhar on March 4 following an ambush on a
US convoy that prompted troops to open fire.

The coalition says the ambush involved a suicide car bombing and small
arms attack to which the troops returned fire.

It says the civilians were killed during the series of events, but
Afghan witnesses and officials have said they all died under the
soldiers' fire. An investigation is under way.

On the same day, nine Afghans were killed when US-led coalition
warplanes bombed a compound in the province of Kapisa, near Kabul, that
insurgents were seen to enter.

Five women and three children were among the dead in the bombing, which
was in response to a rocket attack on a base.Back to TopBulgaria
to send more troops to Afghanistan
Sat Mar 17, 1:47 AM ET
SOFIA (AFP) - Bulgaria's government has said it will send an extra 335
troops to

Afghanistan, of whom 200 will be stationed at Kandahar in the restive
south of the country.

The troops in Kandahar, part of a 35,000-strong

NATO-led force, will take over from Romanian troops from the end of
June protecting the interior of the city's airport.

Around 120 troops and 15 officers will leave for the Afghan capital
Kabul at the beginning of June where they will assist in training the
Afghan military.

Bulgaria, a member of the NATO military alliance since 2004, currently
has 82 troops in Afghanistan, all based in Kabul.

It also has 155 stationed in

Iraq, where 13 Bulgarian soldiers and six Bulgarian civilians have been
killed since the US-led invasion in 2003.Back to TopUN
Seeks Release Of Italian Reporter Kidnapped In Afghanistan
KABUL (AP)--The U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Saturday that those
holding the kidnapped Italian reporter and his two Afghan colleagues
should show their humanity by freeing them.

Daniele Mastrogiacomo, a reporter for Italian daily La Repubblica was
kidnapped along with two Afghans traveling with him on March 5 in the
Nad Ali district of southern Helmand province. Taliban insurgents have
claimed responsibility.

"Mastrogiacomo is a well known journalist whose sympathies for the
people of Afghanistan should be beyond doubt to anyone," the U.N.
mission in Afghanistan said in a statement.

"Throughout his reporting of this region over many years he have
displayed compassion for the poor and suffering, communicating their
voices to the outside world," it said. "We know of no reason whatsoever
for him to be under anyone's suspicion."

Mastrogiacomo appeared in a video shown on Italian television
Wednesday, appealing to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to work for
his release. Prodi said that no efforts will be spared in trying to
secure his release.

Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said Thursday that Italy was not
negotiating with the Taliban, but added that humanitarian groups were
in contact with them, "and the government is doing all it can with the
necessary discretion."

Mastrogiacomo, a father of two, had been on assignment in Kandahar, the
Taliban's former stronghold in southern Afghanistan, when the paper
lost contact with him on March 4.

According to the purported Taliban spokesman, militants abducted
Mastrogiacomo, Sayed Agha and Ajmal as they traveled through Nad Ali in
Helmand, the world's biggest opium-producing province.

La Repubblica newspaper said Mastrogiacomo, 52, was born in Karachi,
Pakistan, where his father was an engineer. He holds dual Italian-Swiss
citizenship, but was traveling on his Italian passport, La Repubblica
said.

Mastrogiacomo, who speaks English, has worked since 2002 as a staff
correspondent in Afghanistan, Iran, the Middle East and Iraq. Back to TopWestern
army supplies turning up in Afghan bazaars
by Bronwen Roberts Sat Mar 17, 2:13 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - Packets of ready-made omlettes, catering-size bottles of
American sauces, even alcohol and pork forbidden in Islam -- items
somehow pilfered from foreign military bases or internationals-only
stores are making an appearance in Kabul markets.

Shelves of the small shops in Bush Market, near the dirty stream that
the Kabul River has become, are packed with jumbo-sized containers of
products that are sometimes unfamiliar to the shopkeepers and jar with
their surroundings.

Pink bottles of sun cream stand near gleaming cans of antiseptic
aerosol; there are Christmas stockings, bagels, horseradish and tins
and tins of Quaker Oats.

"Pork?" a shopkeeper asks a foreigner in a sly whisper, gesturing to a
soggy box on the dirty pavement.

Another asks for help in identifying packets of thawing meat which turn
out to be Bratwurst and veal, according to small labels written in
English.

Disassembled military MREs -- Meals Ready to Eat for troops in the
field -- are sorted into boxes near packets of crab sticks and huge
blocks of Dutch chocolate.

In one dim store hangs an old copy of Cosmopolitan magazine, its risque
cover turned to the wall; elsewhere issues of army publication Freedom
Watch are tossed on the floor and military ID pouches dangle in a
window.

A shopkeeper standing next to a pile of canteen-style mealtrays is
asked where the items come from. "Frankly, they are stolen," he says
with a shrug and a grin.

Another trader, Mohammed Najib, adds: "They are smuggled out (of the
military bases) by laundry workers, kitchen workers. Or food is given
away when they don't need it, like expired stuff. And stuff that is
left in the garbage, the workers bring out."

Sometimes goods are "gifted" to workers after they have offloaded
trucks at the military stores, another says.

"We are not stealing -- we buy it from someone," he says.

Western beauty and health products are favoured over available Chinese
and Pakistani versions because they are considered better quality,
Najib says. Foreigners and returned exiles are among his customers.

Most of the items come from the giant US military base at Bagram, about
60 kilometres (40 miles) from Kabul, he says.

The bazaar outside the Bagram base hit the headlines in April last year
when flash memory drives containing military secrets were found to be
on sale after being smuggled out by cleaners and garbage collectors.

The Kabul bazaar is popularly called Bush Market because of its
association with the US military
and President George W. Bush
who ordered the toppling of the Taliban government five years ago.

The tradition began with the Brezhnev Market that sold Soviet items
after the 1979 invasion of the government of Leonid Brezhnev.

Najib says some of the shops used to sell beer -- which is banned in
Islamic Afghanistan -- but
supplies dried up when authorities recently clamped down on stores and
restaurants meant to sell alcohol only to foreigners.

Now there are regular inspections with authorities also looking for
expired foods, he says.

But across town boxes of Heineken beer are boldly stacked in the sun
against the flimsy walls of shacks that sell burgers wrapped in pages
from the International Security Assistance Force newspaper.

There are other brands of beer, vodka coolers and a couple of cans of
Guinness.

"We have got people who bring it -- I think they get a whole container
(from one of the foreigners-only shops)," says 19-year-old Rishad,
part-owner of a little shop bedecked with saucy Bollywood posters.

A few free beers from time to time can persuade the police to accept
the version with five percent alcohol content. It is the ones with more
alcohol, hidden from display, that can cause problems. "We have to pay
more," he says.

Rishad says he has a steady supply of Afghan customers besides the
occasional Westerner.

"I have one who is in love and he drinks to forget his love. I have one
who is stuck here and his family is in The Netherlands and and he
drinks to forget he is lonely," he says.

On the ban on alcohol and mutterings in parliament about ubiquitous
pictures of sexy Bollywood stars, Rashid says: "I don't have an
opinion. Some people say this is a democracy, some people say it is an
Islamic country.

"I know I am not earning clean money out of this, but what other job
can I do?"Back to TopADB
signs $60 million grant for Afghanistan
Saturday March 17, 2007 (0444 PST) PakTribune.com, Pakistan
KABUL: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will grant $ 60 million to
Afghanistan during the next three years.

The contract was signed between the Finance Minister, Anwarul Haq
Ahadi, and Brian Fawcett, Director of ADB in Afghanistan.

After inking the contract, the Finance Minister said at a press
conference that the grant would be used through the government budget
for development projects such as facilitating better conditions for
investment, constructing schools and roads, drafting laws for trade and
recruiting advisors.

According to the minister $ 28 million of the allotted grant will be
delivered soon, and the rest will be delivered over the next two years.

Ahadi said ADB has put certain conditions on the grant, such as the
drafting of a law for trade conflicts and the establishment of an
accounting system in government administration, and that the Finance
Ministry has taken the responsibility of fulfilling the condition of
the grant.

According to a joint press release of ADB and the Finance Ministry, the
grant will help Afghanistan to establish better conditions to
facilitate the strengthening of the private sector.

The press release said the grant would enable the Finance Ministry to
privatize government enterprises.

According to Finance Ministry officials, there are 72 government
enterprises in Afghanistan, most of which are paralyzed or semi- active
due to the decades of war.

The Director of ADB said the Bank had paid $ 700 million to Afghanistan
for reconstruction and to support the country's budget. He said, $300
million of that amount was loaned and the rest was given as a grant.Back to TopPoll
shows majority of Germans want troops pullout from Afghanistan
Sat, 17 Mar 2007 EARTHtimes.org
Berlin - A clear majority of Germans would like the German troops
engaged in reconstruction operations in the north of Afghanistan to
pull out, according to an opinion poll published Saturday. The poll was
taken just a month before a squadron of six Tornados with
high-resolution cameras takes on a controversial reconnaissance role
supporting NATO troops engaged in combat operations in the south of the
country.

The poll by the TNS institute commissioned by Der Spiegel news magazine
found that 57 per cent of those surveyed wanted a complete withdrawal,
while 36 per cent were in favour of continued engagement.

A meagre 4 per cent backed increasing the German military presence in
Afghanistan.

Under their current mandate, the German troops are prevented from
supporting the combat operations of the NATO-led International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) that is fighting the Taliban and al-Qaeda in
the southern provinces.

Germany's NATO partners have repeatedly called for an extension of the
German mandate.

On March 9, the German parliament approved the deployment of the Recce
Tornados by a large majority, although there was opposition from some
on the left of the grand coalition currently in power.

Two conservative members failed in their attempt to get the
Constitutional Court to block the deployment as contrary to the
restrictions imposed on the German military under the constitution.

Germany has nearly 3,000 troops serving with the 35,000-member NATO
force, mainly in mixed civil and military provisional reconstruction
teams in the relatively peaceful northern part of the country.

In addition, there are 14,000 US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan
engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom. Back to TopTeams
train at Bragg for Afghanistan reconstruction work
By KEVIN MAURER : The Fayetteville Observer via The Herald-Sun - Mar 16
9:16 PM
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Air Force Lt. Col. Gordon Phillips has flown over
Iraq and Afghanistan, but over the next year he will be on the ground.

He will command a Provincial Reconstruction Team, or PRT, in Jalalabad,
Afghanistan.

Phillips was trained to control aircraft in an Airborne Warning and
Control System plane -- the large planes with the Frisbee radar dish on
the top.

But more and more sailors and airmen are taking over PRTs because of a
lack of manpower.

"The PRT job is a lot like what I do on the AWACS," he said. "It is
about understanding needs."

PRTs are the cornerstone of the reconstruction effort in both
Afghanistan and Iraq. The teams work closely with the local government
coordinating reconstruction efforts. A team's effectiveness depends on
its ability to influence local leaders.

Building relationships is the key.

"You have to go in there and listen to their needs," said Phillips, a
48-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M.

Created in 2003 in Afghanistan, the teams are a new addition to Iraq
and come in the wake of the Bush administration's new surge strategy.

In the next few months, the number of PRTs in Iraq will double, Gen.
David Petraeus, commander of forces in Iraq, said during a news
conference this week.

The new teams will focus primarily on Baghdad and Anbar province, where
the insurgency is the strongest.

About 1,200 soldiers, sailors and airmen completed three months of
training Monday before deploying to Afghanistan.

During training last week, Phillips led his PRT into the make-believe
village to look at a clinic and provide medical care after a fictional
earthquake hit the area.

The team arrived at the village just after lunch.

The district chief, Mohammed Olfat, met Phillips at the village's gate
dressed in the thigh-length, long-sleeved gray shirt, a suede coat and
brown pakul, the soft round-topped hat made famous by the assassinated
Afghan Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Massoud.

Olfat ushered Phillips into a shipping container, which served as his
office, and started to discuss the many challenges facing the village.

"We have a problem with the irrigation system," said Olfat, a native
Afghan contractor playing the district chief.

The town's generator doesn't work, and the clinic needs medicine.

"Please tell him today we have engineers with us to look at the clinic,
and we have three medical personnel that would like to start treating
people," Phillips said.

Doctor's care Outside, Capt. Debbie Dye and other members of the PRT
separated the male and female patients. Dye took the females to an area
covered by a poncho liner and started her examinations.

A villager, holding a small MP5 submachine gun, squatted nearby and
translated.

"I am going to get a light and look into her eyes," she told the
interpreter, pointing to her own eyes with the small pen light.

Standing nearby was Sgt. 1st Class Charles Richardson, an evaluator who
served in Iraq. He was impressed with Dye and the team. "She is doing a
great job with her triage," Richardson said. "They are reacting with
everything we've taught them."

Dye, an Air Force physician assistant, volunteered for the yearlong
deployment to Afghanistan.

For most of the airmen, Dye said learning the rugged Army life was an
adjustment, but it helped the team jell.

"We know each other much better because of the environment we've been
training in," Phillips said.

After a brief tour of the village, Phillips and Olfat met Dye outside
the village.

"The biggest problem in the village is we need to get you clean water,"
Dye said. "I've seen a few people with tuberculosis."

Olfat thanked Dye. "If you come three or four more times, everybody
will be happy and healthy," Olfat said.

The visit was a success and likely paved the way for future projects.
The team can only hope for the same success a few months from now in
Jalalabad.

"We've got a chance to make a difference," Dye said. "I hope that when
we leave the people of Jalalabad they can do this on their own." Back to TopMaybe
Layton was right about Afghanistan
Peace deal with the Taliban only way out, analyst says
Mar 17, 2007 04:30 AM Thomas Walkom Toronto Star, Canada
When New Democratic Party chief Jack Layton suggested last fall that
talking to the Taliban might bring peace to Afghanistan, he was laughed
out of court.

The major newspapers dismissed him as either naive or reprehensible.
The Conservative government was contemptuous, as were the Liberals.

They called him Taliban Jack.

Eventually, Layton stopped talking about negotiating with the Taliban.
Which is ironic, given that the idea is now gaining credibility among
those who travel in more established circles.

Indeed, the latest figure to call for a political settlement to the
Afghan conflict is a pillar of the Ottawa establishment. Gordon Smith,
now director of the Centre for Global Studies at the University of
Victoria, is Canada's former ambassador to NATO and a former deputy
minister of foreign affairs. His Canada in Afghanistan: Is it Working?
was done for the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute, a
Calgary think-tank that is not known for being squishy on matters
military.

Unlike Layton, Smith does not say Canada should pull its troops out of
Afghanistan. Quite the contrary. He writes that Canadian troops should
remain there past 2009 as part of the NATO-led force.

But he also writes that the current NATO strategy of trying to defeat
the Taliban militarily cannot work.

"We do not believe that the Taliban can be defeated or eliminated as a
political entity in any meaningful time frame by Western armies using
military measures," he says.

The reasons for this are fourfold. First, the Taliban are still the
dominant force among Pashtuns in Afghanistan's south, where Canadian
troops are operating. NATO bête noire Mullah Omar "remains
unchallenged as leader of the Taliban," Smith writes. "There is no
alternative representing Pashtun interests who has more clout than he."

Second, neighbouring Pakistan "is highly ambivalent about crushing the
Taliban insurgency." While technically on NATO's side in this matter,
important elements of the Pakistani state apparatus, Smith writes,
continue to support the Taliban as their proxy in Afghanistan – mainly
as a way to fend off what they see as hostile Russian and Indian
influences.

To destroy the Taliban would be to end Pakistani influence in
Afghanistan, he says – which perhaps explains Islamabad's less than
total support for the NATO mission.

Third, the NATO strategy of using air power and heavy armour is
backfiring. So is the policy of opium eradication. One destroys Afghan
lives, the other their livelihoods. The net result, writes Smith (and
here he echoes reports from the London-based Senlis Council), is to
make Afghans even more hostile to NATO troops.

Fourth, NATO countries don't have the will to fight a protracted war in
a faraway country.

"If NATO states it will only be satisfied with a decisive military
victory, the Taliban will call our bluff," Smith says. "The Taliban
have demonstrated greater resolve, tactical efficiency and ability to
absorb the costs of war over the long term than have NATO forces."

As a result, "talking to the Taliban" emerges as the only feasible
solution. "Given the costs of war," he writes, "NATO needs to look
candidly at the prospects – aware that there can be no guarantee – of a
political solution."

That, in turn, would involve offering the Taliban a role in
Afghanistan's government, knowing full well that they would demand as
their price a more obscurantist, Islamist regime.

(This wouldn't be good news for women. But, as the Afghan Independent
Human Rights Commission reported recently, life for many Afghan women
isn't much good now – to such an extent that last year more than 200
set themselves on fire to avoid domestic abuse, forced marriage or rape
by in-laws.)

Should the Taliban prove unwilling to talk, Smith writes, NATO should
refocus its attention on the non-Pashtun north and, in effect, permit a
return to the protracted, regionally based civil war that devastated
Afghanistan in the '90s. Eventually, this might bring Mullah Omar to
the bargaining table.

But if a political solution is not found, then NATO countries like
Canada should think the unthinkable: We might lose; or, as Smith puts
it, "there is a quite reasonable possibility that NATO may not
succeed."

It's a grimly realistic paper. It's also in line with the thinking of
other recent, unvarnished assessments of the Afghan war, including a
report from the Senate defence committee.

Oh yes, and its key recommendation echoes that of Jack Layton. But my
guess is that up in Ottawa, the people behind this war aren't going to
be dismissing Smith as Taliban Gord.Back to TopAfghanistan
faces challenges from within, says Shaukat Aziz
* Pakistani media is free, no restrictions on political activity
Daily Times, Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Friday that the
challenges Afghanistan faced were indigenous and required a holistic
approach to win the hearts and minds of Afghans.

He told a NATO parliamentary delegation at PM’s House that the causes
and solutions of the Afghan problem lay in Afghanistan and that
Pakistan would continue helping the Afghan government for peace and
stability.

He said a stable and peaceful Afghanistan was in Pakistan’s strategic,
economic and political interest and that Pakistan would lose if
Afghanistan got destabilised. The PM said a stable Afghanistan could
help Pakistan open avenues of cooperation and forge energy, trade and
transportation links with Central Asia.

He said all stakeholders in Afghanistan needed to be recognised and
involved in finding a settlement of the Afghan problem. Aziz said
Pakistan was of the view that a Marshall Plan type approach needed to
be adopted in Afghanistan to speed up the process of reconstruction and
to bring about meaningful improvement in the lives of the Afghan people.

The prime minister said Pakistan was not an aid giving country, but it
had provided $350 million in assistance to Afghanistan to hep with its
economic activity. He said Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan had
reached $1.5 billion from a mere $50 million four years ago.

He said Pakistan and Afghanistan had agreed on the return of more than
three million Afghan refugees who were still in Pakistan and that their
repatriation would be carried out in a systematic and gradual manner.

The prime minister said Pakistan was fighting terrorism out of
conviction as it was in Pakistan’s interest and in the interest of
international peace.

He said, “We have started selective fencing of our side of border to
prevent illegal movement on the borders from both sides.” He also
expressed Pakistan’s concern over the growing drug production in
Afghanistan and the nexus between drug money and terrorism. He said the
international community needed to tackle the drug menace and take
necessary measures to deal with it.

About Pakistan’s relations with India, the prime minister said the
peace process with India was moving in the right direction. He said
sustainable peace in South Asia could be achieved with a just and
equitable settlement of the Kashmir issue. He said Pakistan was a
peaceful country and was not engaged in an arms race with any country.
“Our defence strategy is based on minimum credible deterrence to ensure
peace in the region,” he added.

Commenting on the Iran nuclear issue, Aziz said Pakistan was opposed to
nuclear proliferation. However, he said, Pakistan recognised Iran’s
right to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes under IAEA safeguards.
He said Pakistan was against the use of force to settle Iran’s nuclear
issue.

About the situation in the country, the prime minister said all
elements of a functioning democracy were in place in Pakistan. He said
the media was free and there were no restrictions on political activity
and that the opposition was active. appBack to TopDiggers
injured in Afghanistan
March 17, 2007 11:30am NEWS.com.au, Australia
THREE Australian soldiers have been wounded in an overnight rocket
attack at Kandahar Airfield in Southern Afghanistan.

The soldiers, who can't be named for security reasons, suffered minor
injuries after the rocket struck their accommodation area.

The impact of the rocket caused minor damage to some accommodation
buildings, but most of the damage was absorbed by a purpose-built
barrier system.

The three soldiers received immediate first-aid and will return to duty
promptly, the Australian Defence Force said.

The government is reported to be considering boosting its contingent of
around 550 ADF personnel already in Afghanistan.Back to TopRUSSIA
RETURNING TO AFGHANISTAN WITH NOT-SO-SOFT POWER
By Vladimir Socor Friday, March 16, 2007 Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC -
Russian power is returning to Afghanistan in military and security
terms, albeit without a military presence on the ground, at least for
now. Moscow is using the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) as a thin cover.

On March 9 through 13, a CSTO Working Group on Afghanistan held talks
in Kabul with senior officials of the Afghan Ministries of Defense,
Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and other security and civilian
government departments. The Russian-led delegation proposed to
institute regular contacts with Afghanistan’s military, security, and
law-enforcement agencies and invited Defense Minister Abdul Rahim
Wardak to Moscow. The delegation offered assistance to Afghanistan to
build its army, security agencies, and border protection units and to
combat “terrorism” and the drugs trade. Specific proposals include
delivering arms and military equipment and training Afghan military and
border-troop officers as well as “special services” personnel. In the
civilian sphere, Russia and the CSTO are offering “help in establishing
the organs of executive government both at the central level and in the
regions” (Interfax, RIA-Novosti, Itar-Tass, March 12, 13).

Although such assistance could only be initiated politically and
supplied in practice by Russia, the official reporting presents it as
an initiative of the CSTO’s Central Asian member countries (Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan). The delegation held meetings with
these countries’ embassies in Kabul. There were apparently no working
meetings with Western representatives there.

Russian officials (though not the group’s Central Asian members)
periodically complain that NATO and other Western organizations and
governments have declined to recognize the CSTO. Just during the last
three weeks, CSTO General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha aired that
complaint at a meeting of the OSCE’s Permanent Council in Vienna,
during an official visit to Tajikistan (see EDM, March 6), and at a
briefing in Moscow.

According to Bordyuzha, the CSTO central staff is embarking on a
needs-assessment for Afghanistan, based on the delegation’s findings.
The CSTO Working Group on Afghanistan consists of members of the
organization’s Secretariat in Moscow as well as national coordinators
from the member countries. The Working Group is defined as a staff
organ subordinated directly to the CSTO’s Council of Ministers of
Foreign Affairs. Afghanistan’s charge d’affaires in Moscow, identified
as Gholam Sakhi Gheyrat, acts as the Afghan government’s representative
at meetings of and talks with the CSTO (Interfax, March 2). Whether
this appointment by the Afghan government -- or some faction within it
-- is compatible with NATO’s and Washington’s non-recognition policy
vis-à-vis the CSTO is unclear.

Moscow also proposes turning the CSTO’s annual anti-drug operation in
Central Asia, “Kanal,” into a “permanent regional operation;” and to
combat the drug traffic not only outside Afghanistan’s borders as
heretofore, but also within Afghanistan. A special meeting of the CSTO
on March 14 in Minsk will discuss this issue. Russia singles out the
narcotraffic issue as one suitable for NATO-CSTO cooperation. Moscow’s
primary motivation is to achieve a political link between the two
organizations, implicit equivalence, and a step toward long-sought
recognition of the CSTO by NATO.

The CSTO created its Working Group on Afghanistan with a notably
limited mandate in 2005, when Russia had practically discontinued
military assistance to that country. Moscow desisted at that time “in
order to avoid duplicating American activities. Now, however, given the
reactivation of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, President Hamid Karzai and
the Afghan government have themselves requested Russia to renew
deliveries of arms and equipment,” stated the Russian MFA’s Central
Asia department chief Alexander Maryasov in the run-up to the CSTO
delegation’s visit. According to his listing, Russia had supplied some
$200 million worth of mostly old military equipment to Afghanistan from
2002 to 2005 (Nezavisimaya gazeta cited by Interfax, March 5).

Russia clearly signaled its strategic re-entry into Afghanistan on
February 22-23 when Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov descended
on Kabul to reopen the Russian embassy in its reconstructed building
and meet with Karzai. During the visit, Lavrov offered Russian military
assistance through the CSTO to Afghanistan “against terrorism and drug
trafficking” and also hinted at the “work under between the security
services every day, painstakingly and imperceptibly.”

Lavrov also confirmed Moscow’s intentions to settle Afghanistan’s
Soviet-era “debts” (largely the costs of occupation), on the
understanding that the Kabul government would in return support the
entry of Russian companies into Afghanistan. Apart from those Soviet
“credits” to Afghanistan, Russia is also legal heir to the
responsibility for Soviet military atrocities in Afghanistan during the
nine-year occupation. However, Lavrov and other visiting Russian
officials do not mention that issue, and neither do the beleaguered
Afghan president or his factionalized government.

Yet in view of this recent history, Moscow has until now ruled out the
idea of again sending Russian military personnel to Afghanistan. The
proposals just made through the CSTO may signal a slight change to this
policy, however. But even if a small number of Russian military
advisers do make their appearance in Kabul or some corner in the north
of the country, Russia will not assume any real responsibilities for
security in Afghanistan. It will quietly watch NATO’s military
difficulties in the country, publicly highlight the failures of Western
soft-power on the anti-drug front, and use the CSTO to minimize the
West’s role in Central Asian security arrangements.

From this point on, moreover, Russia will actively seek to build up
political influence and clienteles in Afghanistan through the military
and security assistance programs just proposed. What has long been
touted as a Russian cooperative policy in Afghanistan is now acquiring
a competitive edge. Back to TopFencing
of Pak-Afghan border would strain Islamabad-Kabul relations, says
Afghan FM
Saturday March 17, 2007 (0629 PST) PakTribune.com, Pakistan
KABUL: Fencing of Pak-Afghan border would strain Pak-Afghan relations,
said Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta by adding that
Afghanistan government will never accept it.
Spanta expressed these Afghan National Assembly session.

BBC reports said that Afghan Officials have made it clear several times
that the fencing of border would not prevent terrorism rather it would
create problems for the people living on both sides of the border.

Afghan Foreign Minister Dr. Spanta made it clear that the war on the
terror could be succeeded when the terrorist's bases and resources were
destroyed.

He termed it very important in war against terrorism to destroy the
terrorist's bases and hideouts. He said that the borderline between
Pakistan and Afghanistan is not clear like other countries.

He said that the Afghan government has lodged a protest in this respect
through diplomatic channel.Back to TopINTERVIEW-Bhutto
warns of Taliban threat to Pakistan
By Daniel Trotta
NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - The Taliban must be defeated in Pakistan
this year or the country risks falling under the sway of extremists
much as Afghanistan did before Sept. 11, 2001, former Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto said on Friday.

Bhutto, who hopes to return from exile and run for prime minister again
in elections this year, also warned that the judicial crisis gripping
Pakistan could spin out of control and underscores the importance of
restoring civilian rule.

"They (the Taliban) have actually established a mini-state in the
tribal areas of Pakistan. My fear is that if these forces are not
stopped in 2007, they are going to try to take on the state of Pakistan
itself," Bhutto told Reuters in an interview.

"In my view it is a genuine threat," she said.

Other commentators have warned of the dangers to Pakistan of a
resurgent Taliban, which was routed from power in neighboring
Afghanistan by the U.S. invasion following the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bhutto said the Taliban comeback was particularly dire because
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was unable to suppress elements of
the Pakistani security forces that remain sympathetic to the Taliban.

Musharraf also has been exploiting the presence of the extreme Islamist
movement as a rationale for maintaining his military rule beyond
general elections due before the end of 2007, she said.

"General Musharraf does say that he wants to go after terrorists, that
he wants to go after the forces that support the Taliban, but he's
unable to do it," Bhutto said from her apartment on the Upper East Side
of Manhattan, where she lives with her ailing husband when she's not
working for her return to Pakistani politics from Dubai.

"The people in the areas must see that it is in their benefit to kick
out the extremist forces," Bhutto said.

To that end she proposes a renewed commitment to health, education and
infrastructure in tribal areas. In the absence of government welfare,
Islamist religious schools have stepped in, winning over the poor
population, she said.

Bhutto, 53, became the first female prime minister in the Muslim world
when she was elected in 1988 at age 35. She was deposed in 1990,
re-elected in 1993, and ousted again in 1996.

Bhutto plans to return for the elections with her secular Pakistan
Peoples Party, but there are questions about under which conditions.

Through third parties, she is negotiating her return with Musharraf,
who has passed a law banning her from seeking a third term. She also
faces allegations of graft which she says were fabricated.

Her immediate concern was the crisis created by ouster of the country's
Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, who was suspended a
week ago after a meeting with Musharraf.

On Friday, Pakistani police fired tear gas, detained about 150
activists and raided a television station as protesters took to the
streets calling for Chaudhary's reinstatement.

"The judicial crisis highlights that if you don't bring about a
peaceful political transfer that events could get out of control
because there is a lot of frustration. The judicial crisis has touched
a raw nerve which has shown how deep-seated the frustration within
Pakistan is," Bhutto said. Back to TopMagazine
features a new face of Afghanistan
3/17/2007 2:18:36 Source ::: The Peninsula On-line, Qatar
doha • With print and television images continuously showing images of
blasts and rubble in Kabul, people would be inclined to think that life
is always far from normal in the Afghan capital.

A magazine called Afghan Scene, however, indicates otherwise. It
features a mixture of articles by foreign correspondents and featurish
writing as well.

Published by the Mohseni family, who also own Arman FM and Tolo TV, the
magazine shows off some interesting advertising, for Afghanistan, that
is.

Safi Landmark Hotel and Suites looks like any five-star international
hotel. However, at the bottom of the ad in huge capital letters is the
legend, ‘UN Security Cleared'.

There are advertisements for mineral water, ‘Cristal' proclaiming
itself to be the ‘Pride of Afghanistan' as also for Ford.

However, it is worth mentioning that Ford is not advertising its
Mustang or any other regular vehicle, but the rugged truck range, no
doubt fit for Afghanistan's many bombed out roads.

Also advertised are generators, most likely to help people cope with
the country's notoriously dodgy electricity supply.

Advertisements are as one would see in any other magazine in any other
country, including for Internet services, mobile phone networks, a Thai
restaurant, the QSI International school of Kabul and something that
would have sent the Taleban into a tizzy, the Nova Beauty Salon, which
offers up hair care, facial treatments, hand and foot treatments, and
waxing.

But then reality hits. Remote Medical Solutions International (RMSI)
asks: "Your convoy hits a mine, you develop chest pain in the middle of
the night, who will respond?"

RMSI then says: "You may have cover with an experienced international
medical provider, but if you are lying on the side of the road
bleeding, can they save you?"

By subscribing to RMSI for a minimal monthly cost, they will extend
cover and respond on behalf of international medical providers by road
and air ambulance anywhere in the country.

Better yet, RIMS' pool of dedicated clinical specialists boast
extensive experience in conflict and disaster zones. Back to TopHeavy
water flow damages Ghazni's Zanakhan Dam
GHAZNI CITY, Mar 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The first gate of the
Zanakhand dam in Ghazni, has broken under pressure from the water,
raising concerns among the people of the surrounding area and Ghazni
city.

The dam, which was built fifty years ago, was a good source of
irrigation water to Zanakhan district and to Ghazni city.

Zanakhan district police Chief, Abdul Wakil Hashimi, said the
water-level had risen due to the melting snow, causing the first gate
of the dam to collapse late Wednesday night.

Hashimi told Pajhwok Afghan News, that he had immediately sought help
from the Centre and that they had begun to place some rocks to prevent
the water to going into residential areas.

He added that the level of the water had decreased.

Wakil Kamyab, the Police Chief of Ghazni province, said the villages in
the adjoining areas have been been alerted.

Zanakhan water flows through the southern parts of Ghazni city and then
into the Ghazni River, crossing Andar and Gair districts all the way to
Muqur.

Mohammad Kazimullah, the Deputy governor and Anti-Disaster Chief of
Ghazni, told Pajhwok Afghan News that the water had been blocked and
the people alerted in time.

Zanakhan district is 22 kilometer east of Ghazni city.
Sher Ahmad Haidar Back to TopTaliban
use border region as their base: Swedish minister
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Mar 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The lawless
Afghan-Pakistan border region serves as a base for Taliban rebels, the
Swedish Defence Minister, Mikael Odenberg, said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference at the Provincial Reconstruction Team
(PRT) base in Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday, Odenberg said Stockholm was
concerned about an increase in Taliban attacks in spring, but expressed
his confidence that the NATO-led International Security Assistance
Force (ISAF), has the capability to deal with the insurgency.

He added: "There is no control over the Pak-Afghan border, without any
doubt Taliban use it as their base".

Odenberg said Afghanistan has unknown enemies who create instability
and use it to their benefit.

He recalled that the international community has asked Pakistan to
seriously support the anti-terrorism war.

The Swedish Defense Minister said, "Sweden is determined to keep its
troops for a long time in Afghanistan".

Odenberg met Swedish troops deployed under the PRT in Mazar city.

Gunilla Carlsson, the Swedish Minister of Development and International
Aid, who was also present at the press conference, said Sweden has
given the Afghan government an annual grant of $50 million.

200 Swedish troops are deployed in Balkh province under the ISAF PRT.
Ahmad Naim Qadiri Back to Top11
diplomats absent after end of term abroad
Najib Khelwatgar
KABUL, Mar 15 (Pajhwok Afghan News) At least 11 diplomats, serving in
Afghan embassies and consulates in different countries, have not
returned home despite end of period of their service abroad.

Reliable sources told Pajhwok Afghan News seven of those who failed to
report to the Foreign Ministry at home were serving as first
secretaries at embassies and consulates in London (UK), Rome (Italy),
Amsterdam (Holland), New York (USA), Toronto (Canada), the
north-eastern Iranian city of Mashad and Pakistan's port city of
Karachi.

The other four men are the second secretaries in Germany and Australia
Hazratullah Abid and Abdullah Arif, third secretary in Tehran
Merajuddin and Afghan consular in Berlin (Germany) Azizullah
Amin.

The sources said first secretary of the Afghan consulate in Mashad Aziz
Meraj and first secretary at the Karachi consulate Abdul Nabi had gone
to Qatar and Germany. All the eleven persons possessed diplomatic
passports and had not reported to the Foreign Ministry in the country,
said the sources

Contacted for comments, Foreign Ministry's spokesman Sultan Ahmad Bahin
said it might be that some of the diplomats, after end of their service
term abroad, did not want to return and resume their job at home.

"Afghanistan consular in Berlin Azizullah Amin and second secretary in
Australia Hazratullah Abid are continuing their duty." He added a
diplomat had to return and report to the Foreign Ministry within three
months after completion of his service period abroad.

Bahin said diplomats whose service period abroad ended were bound to
submit their diplomatic passports to the concerned authorities at the
airport. Back to Top

Disclaimer:
This news site is mostly a compilation of publicly accessible articles
on the Web in the form of a link or saved news item. The news articles
and commentaries/editorials are protected under international copyright
laws. All credit goes to the original respective source(s).